A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

User Thoughts:

Excellent production

After seeing the first episode, the show promises to be an excellent production showing the civilization and intrigue of the Rome of Julius Caesar. We can't place our own moral code on these characters. They had their own, and are shown living it. When your life depended upon position and knowledge, you did everything you could to put yourself in the best position possible. In an "about the show" program that I saw about "Rome", the actress who plays Atia says that she doesn't feel her character is evil. The character is doing what she has to in order to keep her position and stay alive in that time. Life was hard, and so one didn't have the luxury of being soft.

To those who complain about the accents, so what? Why would someone from ancient Rome speak with an Italian accent? Language and dialect evolve over time. Who knows what an ancient Roman accent sounded like? They aren't Italians speaking in English, they are Romans speaking their own Latin dialect. Latin is not Italian. Just ask my old High School Latin teacher. We just happen to have the movie magic version of a Universal Translator, so we can understand them.

The sets are perfect, showing a bustling city, full of activity. To those who complain about them, they have to remember that the ruins of ancient Rome that we see today have been scoured clean by the progression of time. The filmmakers felt that ancient Rome would have been more like Bombay, India, and I tend to agree with them.

The series shows life as it was in those days. I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops further.

Rome

Goofs:

We know about 10 Goofs. Here comes one of them: Anachronisms The real Atia (Octavian's mother) died in 43 B.C. In the series she is still alive in 31 B.C.

Trivia:

There are 37> entries in the trivia list - like these:

The names of the main characters, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, are actual historical. They are mentioned in Caesars' The Gallic war as two close partners with quarrels between them about each others bravery and who is to be promoted primus pilus. They are mentioned explicitly courageous when Marcus Tullius Cicero's brother was besieged. The audacity of Pullo is also noted, being similar to the Pullo in the series (Book 5.44).

Rome's five acres of outdoor "period" sets comprise the largest standing set in the world to date.

Fifty-five local extras were cast as "Roman Legionaries" and sent to a two-week boot camp, living in tents, to train as Roman soldiers. Training included military discipline (waking at 5 a.m., bed by 9 p.m.), marching, swordsmanship, camp building and dismantling, group training and maneuvers (day and night time training), and bathing restricted to the local lake without soap at night. Forty-three of the 55 extras completed the boot camp.

Although saddles with stirrups were not used by the Romans, they are required for safety. During close-up shots, however, the stirrups are removed for more authenticity.

Smuggling Princess Cleopatra into Alexandria tied up in a sack was described by the Greek historian Plutarch. The entire sequence was recreated in Rome, clear down to Cleopatra's demure pose before Caesar.